1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:03,400 Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,800 You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX. 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,480 We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,840 cross. Now let's join the service. 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,840 Father God, we stand before your throne tonight. 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,680 Lord, we gather together in your house and we've worshiped you in 7 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,640 spirit, Lord, and we're going to worship you in truth. 8 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,760 And Lord, you see every situation, every need 9 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,720 represented here, every heart that is here. 10 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,680 You see that Lord, And we ask that you move upon those needs, 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,520 whether it's a broken heart, whether it's just a downward 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,680 spirit, Lord, you're able to lift up God where there's a 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,880 physical need, spiritual need, financial need, Father, whatever 14 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,200 it is, we look to you, Father, because you are our provider. 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,240 You are waymaker, Lord. You're everything that we need 16 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,880 and everything we have. And we ask that you anoint me 17 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,360 tonight, Lord, as I bring forth the word that I believe you've 18 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:05,560 given me and anoint us to receive it in Jesus name, Amen. 19 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:13,800 This is going to be basic. I like to do basics. 20 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,960 Y'all like basics? I like basics, basic stuff. 21 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,280 Well, I see it over here. We got a new baptistry, praise 22 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,120 God. And that's what I'm going to be 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,040 talking about is water baptism tonight. 24 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,240 I guess the Scripture I'm going to go from, I've got a lot of 25 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,560 Scripture, but the one that I'm going to start with is Hebrews 6 26 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:37,440 and 9, which may seem to be an odd place to start when you're 27 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,800 talking about water baptism, but you hopefully you'll follow me. 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:54,600 Give me just a second, it says. But beloved, we are confident of 29 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,920 better things concerning you. Yes. 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:03,880 Things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner 31 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,400 usually we read that and go, yeah, yeah, yeah. 32 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,080 OK. Accompany salvation da da, da, 33 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:13,720 but the word accompany here means to go along with or to go 34 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:18,320 together as an echo. When you have an EEEEE, you have 35 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,480 the 1st and then it just, there's things that follow 36 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,440 behind it that it, it just follows that it is we're talking 37 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:29,120 about not about salvation, but we're talking about what follows 38 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,840 salvation. And water baptism is one of 39 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:34,720 those things that follow salvation. 40 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,240 There's many things that accompany salvation. 41 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,720 We have forgiveness of sins. Praise God. 42 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:43,760 What we couldn't do for ourself, Jesus did for us. 43 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,240 We became new creatures in Christ. 44 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,160 We now have God's strength to overcome habits and hurts and 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,920 sin. We have unconditional love from 46 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:56,760 the Lord. We have God's protection when 47 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,720 we're doing just going about our everyday business. 48 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:05,960 God protects us because we're His, and we have His Word to 49 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,200 give us wisdom and to guide us as we go about our business and 50 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,920 just walking about our everyday life, much less our spiritual 51 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,480 life. He guides and directs us after 52 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,200 our salvation. He shows us what we should be 53 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,400 doing. And all of these things 54 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,560 accompany salvation or they go along with salvation. 55 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:32,440 Now, salvation is what God does in us, but it should not be 56 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,800 private. Your salvation should never be 57 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,360 private. And I've heard a lot about that. 58 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,280 But it it's your salvation is not well, it's just between me 59 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,240 and the Lord. No, no, that's not what he says 60 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,680 at all. It should be open. 61 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,720 Everybody who follows Jesus came out in public. 62 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,360 Does that come out? Remember, mind you, if anybody 63 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,840 comes out, people who come out that are not necessarily godly 64 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,440 people, well, if Christians should come out of the closet, 65 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,320 OK, I'm going to say that we, everybody that followed Jesus 66 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,680 came out in the Old Testament and New Testament that followed 67 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:13,680 Jesus. They followed him in public 68 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,440 places, OK? When people accepted Jesus as 69 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,840 their Savior, there was a next step of faith that accompanied 70 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:25,440 their salvation. You all know what it was. 71 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,120 It was water baptism. I mean, water baptism is not 72 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,880 salvation, but it is a symbol of your salvation. 73 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,760 It's an open profession of faith. 74 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,400 In Jesus's day, baptism was how the confession of faith was even 75 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:41,840 offered. It was in public. 76 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,240 They would preach out in public and with John that he would 77 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,840 preach the people and he would be standing in the middle of the 78 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:50,480 water and they would come in, in the water and he would baptize 79 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:55,360 them openly and publicly. Now what? 80 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,760 Where I've been going with this all day long around and around 81 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,440 is baptism. You know, where did that start? 82 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,360 Did John invent water baptism? No, he did not. 83 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:17,120 In fact, the the lack of the widespread criticism of John for 84 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,080 the act of the immersion of water and baptizing suggests 85 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:26,920 that the Jewish community was already familiar with the act of 86 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,520 immersion baptizing. It was a ritual. 87 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,400 Immersion is what they thought they had. 88 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,000 They may have questioned his authority to do it, but they 89 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:38,880 didn't question what he was doing. 90 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,720 John the Baptist did not invent the ritual of water baptism. 91 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,840 It was already a familiar practice with the Jews. 92 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,440 Baptism originated, That was hard for me to say, Originated 93 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:59,560 as a Jewish purification rite rooted in the Torah. 94 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:02,960 What? Just hang on. 95 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:08,080 And it was a common practice for centuries before the rise of 96 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,600 Christianity. Now Jewish people practiced 97 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,400 immersion. Baptism is what we know it, but 98 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:23,520 it was called a mikvah, MIKVEHA mikma, mikvah of purification 99 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,640 and conversion. Long before the 1st century in 100 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,720 the in Leviticus and in numbers, ritual washing with water was 101 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,080 required for priests. We know that because they would 102 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,080 wash themselves, they had to go wash themselves in the Laver, 103 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,120 the brazen Laver, they would before they went into the 104 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:45,880 Tabernacle, and they all had to be washed before they touch. 105 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,160 If they touched anything unclean like a dead animal, well, they 106 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,000 all had to be purified and they all had to be washed. 107 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:57,760 While immersion existed earlier during the Second Temple period. 108 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,080 Think about it, remember the first temple tore down, Second 109 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:07,080 temple tore down, it was rebuilt roughly around 516 before Christ 110 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,680 and they would wash in a pool of water. 111 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,840 They call that pool of water a mikvah and it was widely 112 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,080 recognized by all the Jewish people after the temple had been 113 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,680 built built it was necessary thing for all the people, 114 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,000 everyone to be immersed in a mikvah to before they could even 115 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,360 come into this temple. So water baptism was not new. 116 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,560 I don't know, maybe this is old hat to y'all I don't know. 117 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,520 But it was like I get this. I see. 118 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:43,200 But immersion in a big vog was also a formal ritual for 119 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:47,040 purification and specifically for converts entering into 120 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,400 Judaism. So for John the Baptist to 121 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,320 baptize, and nobody criticized him baptizing them. 122 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,080 They criticized the fact that he, who or who do you think you 123 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:58,600 are? You don't have the authority to 124 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,480 do that. But it wasn't the act of 125 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,120 baptizing that they were criticizing. 126 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,720 It was the fact that John, they didn't think he had the 127 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,480 authority. So according to I'm going to get 128 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:13,800 a little technical, the strong's lexicon, the word mikvah. 129 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,120 Hopefully this will make you excited and happy. 130 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:21,720 The word mikvah shares the same root as the word for hope or the 131 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,680 word to bind and the word to wait. 132 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,600 It's the concept of hoping, binding, and waiting on God. 133 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,400 So this gives us just a good mental picture of what it means 134 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,880 to align ourselves with God and wait upon Him. 135 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,840 We give ourselves and bind ourselves to His Word and to 136 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,520 Him. We line ourselves up with Him 137 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,360 and wait for Him in confidence and in truth after we've 138 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:54,160 experienced mikvah, baptism, immersion in water. 139 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,360 So we've aligned our ourselves up with the Word of God. 140 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:01,560 So baptizing wasn't just something new. 141 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,800 It was something that they were a well aware of. 142 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,760 And the Jews understood John's message of repentance from sin 143 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,680 and the corresponding outward act of purification. 144 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:15,480 So they didn't complain about it. 145 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:17,560 They didn't question the the bad. 146 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:19,200 Did you anybody ever think about that? 147 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,760 You know, I thought I got up this morning, back this morning 148 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,080 about 5:00 and the Lord goes, who told John how to baptize? 149 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,040 I'm going. I figured you did God, he said 150 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,800 look it up. OK, so I'm looking it up. 151 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:37,520 So John baptized, Jesus baptized, all of the disciples 152 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,600 baptized, they baptized all the new converts. 153 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:45,600 Baptizing wasn't just specific to want everybody, every 154 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:50,560 disciple that followed Jesus Christ baptized because he told 155 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:53,720 us he says go baptized, didn't he? 156 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,640 He told us to do that. So just as a little breakdown 157 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,160 and I don't have much more to give y'all but a little 158 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,240 breakdown. One, it was commanded by Jesus 159 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,480 water baptism, Matthew 28 and 19. 160 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,280 He says go ye therefore and teach all nations. 161 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:15,080 He said teach all nations baptizing them in the name of 162 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,400 the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. 163 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:22,480 So that's what Matthew tells us to do, He says, or Jesus tells 164 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,240 us to do. He wrote it down what the Lord 165 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,960 told him. Go and teach and baptize. 166 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,040 The people need to know. They need to know about Jesus. 167 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,440 And then once they know about Jesus and accept him as their 168 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:39,720 Lord and Savior, then they're baptized. 169 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,040 Luke said it like this, and he said unto them, Go into all the 170 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,600 world and preach the gospel to every creature. 171 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,120 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he that 172 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,480 believes not shall be damned. Wow. 173 00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:00,680 It was spoken of by Peter after the Holy Ghost, after the Holy 174 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:03,840 Ghost had come upon Peter in Acts 2 and 38. 175 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,760 It says then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, 176 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,360 everyone of you in the name of the Jesus Christ for the 177 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,760 remissions of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy 178 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,720 Ghost. So it's a prerequisite for 179 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:24,880 receiving the Holy Ghost. Sometimes just put a check mark 180 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:30,280 there, but Christian water baptism represents the death, 181 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:32,880 burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 182 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:38,200 That's what it's all about. Romans 6 two through 5 and I 183 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,520 know I'm going fast. So if you can get there, you can 184 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,000 get there. Romans 6 two through 5 says, God 185 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:47,200 forbid, how shall we that are dead and sin live any longer 186 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,160 therein? Know ye not that so many of us 187 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,640 were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death, 188 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,960 therefore we're buried with him by baptism into death that all 189 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,600 that like, as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of 190 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,680 the Father, Even so we also should walk in newness of life. 191 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:10,160 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his 192 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,400 death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 193 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,280 In other words, the old man's dead and a new man now lives. 194 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,640 We have new life. New life is beginning because 195 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,200 you've accepted Jesus Christ, you've taken that public step of 196 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,680 being baptized. And he said now, just like the 197 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:32,480 likeness or example of Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection, 198 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:37,280 that's what it's all about now. A mikvah of living water 199 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:43,600 represents the bounty and the resources of the new life that 200 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,960 we can enjoy in God. Think about it. 201 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,480 Water baptism represents the resources of a new life that we 202 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,880 have in God. Those who put their hope in God, 203 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:01,520 choosing to align their lives with the Lord, will never dry 204 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,400 out, but we'll always have fresh life in them. 205 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:09,040 According to Jeremiah, He'll be like a tree planted by the 206 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:15,440 water, living water. We used to sing that song and we 207 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,800 used to teach that word, just like a tree planted like, I 208 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,360 mean, your roots are deep, your roots are in the water. 209 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:23,680 And that's what this is all about. 210 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,280 South, a mikvah is living. Water represents the bounty and 211 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,880 the resources of the new life that we're going to have in God. 212 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:36,160 That's what this is all about. Jeremiah went on Jeremiah 17, 213 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,800 verse 7. Blessed is the man who trusted 214 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,040 the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. 215 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,920 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which 216 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,640 spread out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when 217 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,360 heat comes, but its leaves will be green and will not be anxious 218 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,160 in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. 219 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,640 They're not going to be anxious when it's dry, when it's a dry 220 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,280 season, when things aren't going just right. 221 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,160 We shouldn't be anxious and we shouldn't. 222 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,760 We'll never stop yielding fruit. Now, what is this talking about? 223 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:18,120 It's talking about giving people souls, talking about sharing 224 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:22,400 your fruit of the Lord with people who may be going through 225 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:27,760 a rough time, dry drought, but you don't have the drought. 226 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,400 You don't have to worry about the drought because you'll never 227 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,760 lose your fruit. You'll always be yielding fruit. 228 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:43,120 One more type of I got a couple more, but the flood was a type 229 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:47,000 of water baptism. We see that in first Peter 3 230 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,640 verse 18, it says for Christ also has once suffered for sins, 231 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:57,200 the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put 232 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,040 to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by 233 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:05,160 which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, 234 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,200 which sometimes were disobedient. 235 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,760 When once the long-suffering of God waited in the day of Noah 236 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,920 while the ark was a preparing, he was Texas. 237 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:18,800 He had to be from Texas waiting in the day of Noah while the ark 238 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,400 was a preparing wherein few, that is 8 souls were saved by 239 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,960 water. The like figure wherein to even 240 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,120 baptism does also now save us, not the putting away of the 241 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,280 filth of the flesh. That's not what they're talking 242 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,000 about, but it's the answer of a good conscience towards God. 243 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,680 That's what he's talking about. Our, our water baptism is answer 244 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,680 of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus 245 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:46,640 Christ. That's what we're doing when we 246 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,000 get into that water. And we say, you know, and the 247 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,800 preacher says, if you accepted Jesus Christ, you know, and I 248 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,200 baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy 249 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,840 Ghost and this and all I do, I do in the name of Jesus, you 250 00:15:57,840 --> 00:15:59,880 know, so they baptize you and they dunk you. 251 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:03,480 What you're doing is you're saying I'm this old flesh is 252 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,760 dead. I'm no longer going to live like 253 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,000 I used to live. I have aligned myself up with 254 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,560 God. I'm aligning myself up with his 255 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,720 word, and I'm going to live like it. 256 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:16,840 And one more thing, one more time. 257 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:22,680 They did it in public. They weren't closet Christians. 258 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,520 They gave their life for Christ. That's what they did. 259 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,000 The next thing is baptism is compared to circumcision. 260 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,760 Wow. Colossians 28 start there. 261 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,440 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain 262 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,960 deceit. After the tradition of men, 263 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,600 after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ, for 264 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,600 in him dwells all the fullness of the God head. 265 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,080 Vitally they're talking about Jesus, and you are complete in 266 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,240 Him, which is the head of all principality and power, that 267 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,640 right there will preach. In whom also you are circumcised 268 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,640 with the circumcisions made without hands, in putting off 269 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,720 the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 270 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,319 Christ, buried with Him in baptism. 271 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:14,720 Wherein also you are raised with Him through the faith of God, 272 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,599 who has raised Him from the dead. 273 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,960 And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your 274 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,160 flesh has quickened together with him having given you all 275 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:32,120 forgiving you all trespasses. So water baptism, it's a 276 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:36,160 statement, folks. It's not just a casual, well, 277 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:37,800 I'm going to well, you get baptized. 278 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,760 I get baptized too. OK, well, we'll just do that. 279 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,800 You know, a lot of people do that nowadays. 280 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,280 A lot of people. Oh, we got, you know, let's it's 281 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,600 a statement. It's a serious statement. 282 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:59,080 And Genesis, God talks about the circumcision made without hands. 283 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:01,200 He talks about the circumcision in the flesh. 284 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,400 And we know that that circumcision in the flesh was 285 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,480 what? What was it? 286 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:13,920 It was a sign of what? We'll have Sunday school Sunday 287 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,000 morning. Circumcision was a sign of the 288 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,240 covenant. That was the first thing in 289 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,360 Genesis. Abraham says this is what it's 290 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:26,560 going to be like. Guys, I'm your God, you're my 291 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,560 people. Every male child, every boy, 292 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:34,960 every man, every servant, people you bought with your money, 293 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:36,800 people who are living there, born there. 294 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,880 All male children, no matter who they are, will be circumcised as 295 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,880 a sign of the covenant. And we just talked about water 296 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:50,120 baptism being a likeness of circumcision. 297 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:52,720 So here we go. I'm going to read this last 298 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,800 thing here. And the uncircumcised man child 299 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:02,400 whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall 300 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:07,200 be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant. 301 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,040 So we need to think about it, don't we? 302 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:16,240 It's a serious matter with God. It's not just well, OK, I, I 303 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,080 feel good. I had an emotional moment. 304 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,840 I get real irritated with emotional moments. 305 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,000 I have an emotional moment. You go and cry and you weep and 306 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,040 then you go right back out and do exactly what you were doing 307 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,720 before. That's all you had. 308 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,800 You did not get saved. I'm just going to say that out. 309 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,800 You did not get saved just because you came down here and 310 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,040 cried. If your life doesn't show it, 311 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:46,360 the things that follow salvation, baptism is one of 312 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,160 them. There's a lot of things that 313 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:53,360 follow salvation, but water baptism is like circumcision. 314 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,800 It does a few things. Let me tell you what this does 315 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,320 or did. Circumcision did, and water 316 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,080 baptism does the same. It is done for cleanliness. 317 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,000 Circumcision made without hands is our heart. 318 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,800 Our hearts have been circumcised. 319 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:16,720 When you have given your heart to God, He changes that heart. 320 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,920 He gives you a new heart. He gives you a heart of flesh, a 321 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,560 heart that yearns for God, a heart that wants to know more 322 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:27,000 about Him, wants to be in His presence all the time. 323 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,840 That's a new heart. He's circumcised that heart. 324 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,400 He's cut off the the blood that Jesus cleanses us from all sins. 325 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,440 We have a new heart, so it's done. 326 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:40,880 Our flesh cannot contaminate our spirit. 327 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,120 That's what that's done for it keeps the flesh from 328 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:49,600 contaminating the seeds. Normal circumcision we die for. 329 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,840 To our flesh. Circumcision was done on the 8th 330 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,040 day after birth. Represents the new life and the 331 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,360 new beginning. 8 means new beginning. 332 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,800 There was a reason for that back in the day, in the ancient 333 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,000 times, because at 8 days old, that's when a child starts, 334 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,240 their blood starts clotting. So that's when they did the 335 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,240 circumcision. But it's also spiritually 336 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,600 speaking, it's a new beginning, it's a new life. 337 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,080 So this is what he's talking about here, Circumcision on the 338 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,120 8th day, a child would receive his father's name at 339 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:24,320 circumcision back in the ancient day. 340 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:29,200 That's very important. We are called Christians because 341 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,080 we belong to God, we belong to Jesus. 342 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:36,400 We are part of that family that we've woven together and we bind 343 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,600 together and we align ourselves up with the word of God. 344 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,880 And so we have come together and a child will receive his 345 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,920 father's name at circumcision. Well, what does that mean if a 346 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,240 child had not been circumcised? You've lived with the family all 347 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,720 your life. You know he was your daddy. 348 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:57,880 But time come, daddy dies, you get nothing. 349 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,520 You are considered a bastard child. 350 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,440 That's what you, if you did not ever get circumcised, that's 351 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,760 what you were considered. Now don't hit me and don't kill 352 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,720 me because we have examples of people not being baptized that 353 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,800 go to heaven. So that's a whole nother, whole 354 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,440 nother story. But that's what happened back in 355 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,040 the day. They did that. 356 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:28,520 So we'll receive our Father's name when we get baptized, OK. 357 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,320 The child received the rights to inherit his, his Father's 358 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:38,960 estate, and it was a sign mostly of the blood covenant. 359 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,320 Matthew 313. I know I'm flipping you back and 360 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:49,400 forth. This is very important. 361 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:57,240 After Jesus was baptized was the first public acknowledgement by 362 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,360 the Father of Jesus being his Son. 363 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,760 It says, Then came Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to 364 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,880 be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I 365 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,360 have need to be baptized of you, and cometh thou to me, you're 366 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:14,000 coming to me. And Jesus answered, saying to 367 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:18,440 him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becomes to us to fulfill 368 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,480 all righteousness. Then he suffered him let. 369 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,520 In other words, he let him suffered him means let he 370 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,840 suffered him, let Jesus he let him come into the water to be 371 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,480 baptized. And Jesus when he was baptized, 372 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,880 went up straight way out of the water, and the heavens opened up 373 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,520 to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and 374 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:43,440 lighting upon him, and a voice from heaven saying, This is my 375 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,040 beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. 376 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:52,640 He received acknowledgement from his Father, God the Father, when 377 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,320 he was baptized. So it's a deep thing, folks. 378 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,360 It's a deep thing. It's not just a casual thing. 379 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:06,320 And I've got other examples. I'll just read you a couple 380 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:11,080 here. Acts 19, one through 6. 381 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,440 It says, Hey, this is Paul and Ephesus. 382 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,040 And he, Paul said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when 383 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,200 you believed? So they said unto him, We have 384 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,320 not much is heard where there be a Holy Spirit. 385 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,600 And he said to them, into what then were you baptized? 386 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,960 So he said into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed 387 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,440 baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people 388 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,440 that they should believe on him who would come after him, that 389 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,640 is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were 390 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,040 baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and when Paul had laid 391 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,320 hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spake 392 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:52,400 with tongues and prophesied. Wow, when was the last time? 393 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:57,400 I truly I don't ever remember seeing this. 394 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,960 When some, my mom would tell me when somebody would go down in 395 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,360 that water and they would come up speaking in tongues. 396 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,360 When was the last time we saw that? 397 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,920 Maybe it's because we're taking it a little too casually. 398 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,880 Maybe we're doing it for a little bit of the wrong reason. 399 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,160 You are making a statement. I'm aligning myself up with God. 400 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,000 He is mine, I am his. I'm aligning myself, I'm 401 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,600 grouping myself, I'm binding myself together with brothers 402 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,920 and sisters of the Lord and we're waiting on hoping on his 403 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,240 return. And that's who we are. 404 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:39,440 I mean, that's what we're saying when we get baptized. 405 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,920 We're not just saying and you know, I'll do it if you do it 406 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:48,400 and come on, you know, and I know kids do that sometimes they 407 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,800 do that a lot, but that's OK. They can be baptized again. 408 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,400 We just saw it. They can be baptized again, you 409 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,360 know. So they baptized in the name of 410 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,800 Jesus. Philip went in Acts 8 Philip 411 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,000 went and baptized Samaritans, the the worst of the worst. 412 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,000 And Peter and John went down and prayed for them and then they 413 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:12,720 received the Holy Ghost man. Acts 9. 414 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,080 This was Paul after he, after he believed, it says immediately 415 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,440 there fell from his eyes something like scales. 416 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,480 He received his side at once and he arose and was baptized. 417 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,320 Paul was not a secret closet Christian. 418 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,520 He was beaten. He was whipped. 419 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,320 He was almost drowned. Anything you can imagine, Paul 420 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,640 went through it. Most of the letters we see in 421 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,720 the Bible were from Paul. He did it in prison. 422 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:47,840 He was not a closet Christian. We cannot just lay back and say, 423 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:51,360 I got baptized when I was five years old. 424 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,720 Really. Maybe you need to do it again. 425 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,720 Maybe you didn't understand exactly what you were doing. 426 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,800 It's an important thing that you do. 427 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:05,200 Gentiles were baptized and after they received the Holy Spirit in 428 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,120 Acts 10. The Gentiles, after they 429 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:11,040 received the Holy Spirit, then they were baptized in water. 430 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,200 Look it up, Acts 1044. Look it up. 431 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:20,360 And in Acts 18, then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, 432 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,400 believed on the Lord with all his household, and many of the 433 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,120 Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. 434 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,480 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in a night by a vision. 435 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,800 Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. 436 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,120 Let me let that soak in. Do not keep silent. 437 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:48,160 Share your faith, teach your family, bringing them up in the 438 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,200 way that they should go. That's what the Lord tells us to 439 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,360 do. Don't hide it in the closet and 440 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:57,840 say, well, you make up your mind when you no, no, no, not at all. 441 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:04,320 But we are knit together. We are bound together in baptism 442 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:08,320 with Christ, lining up with his word, living my life as if I'm 443 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:09,840 not. I'm not who I used to be. 444 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:15,120 And trust me, I am not who I used to be, but I'm waiting. 445 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:18,160 I'm finding my brothers and I'm finding my sisters everywhere 446 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:22,040 and I'm aligning up with them and we're hoping waiting. 447 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:26,640 We have that blessed hope. All of this pertains to water 448 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,520 baptism. I was excited when I saw that 449 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,800 sitting in there. Thanks, Lord. 450 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,720 You know, all of that. It's a binding together. 451 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,760 The, the Jewish people didn't take it lightly. 452 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,080 They couldn't enter the, they could not enter the temple 453 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,800 unless they had been through a mitzvah, which was a pool of 454 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:55,040 water. They would go in, ritually go. 455 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:59,120 Actually what they did was they would go in one side, be 456 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:03,160 cleansed and go out the other side, coming in one way and 457 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,520 going out the other way. That's virtually what they did 458 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:13,480 back in the day ancient times. But it is the binding together 459 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,440 with the Lord sealing the deal. Maybe. 460 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:23,040 OK, I know this is not a this is a chew on it work message 461 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,360 tonight. Think about it. 462 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:31,160 Just think about it. It goes along with salvation 463 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,640 where the people go to heaven that were never baptized. 464 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,360 Thief on the cross is one of them. 465 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,760 Good example, thief on the cross. 466 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:46,640 People who have deathbed conversions, they go to heaven 467 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,600 without being baptized. But if you're alive and you're 468 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,280 awake and you're walking and you're talking and you have a 469 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,000 way of getting baptized, go baptized. 470 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,680 Philip baptized the eunuch in a mud puddle. 471 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,440 Is there any, what after he became aware of what it, the 472 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,560 word meant, after he, this was Old Testament. 473 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,600 He was reading the Old Testament and he says, who is he talking 474 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,320 about? Probably reading Isaiah. 475 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:16,160 Who is he talking about? And so Philip told him all about 476 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,520 it and he said, where can I get baptized? 477 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:21,200 There's a pool of water right over there. 478 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:22,600 Let's get do this. Let's do this. 479 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,920 It was important. It's an important thing to be 480 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,960 baptized, and I'm not talking sprinkled, I'm talking 481 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:36,800 immersion. OK, so that's all I have for 482 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:38,760 you. I hope you chew on it. 483 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,680 I hope you think about it, because we're probably going to 484 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:48,800 get active here real soon, I hope. 485 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,680 And if you've never been baptized, get baptized. 486 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,320 Take your father's name, get the right of inheritance because 487 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,320 that's what it stood for. If you have been baptized and 488 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,920 you were baptized and you're not really sure why you were 489 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,640 baptized, you just knew that somebody told you you need get 490 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:10,480 baptized this time. Line yourself up with God's 491 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,240 Word. Thanks for listening to the 492 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,560 Cross Powered Church podcast. May you know that true hope, 493 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,600 peace, and salvation can only be found in Jesus. 494 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,800 If you're near Campbell, TX, we would love for you to join us in 495 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,320 person. You can find service times at 496 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:27,880 crosspowerchurch.com.