1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,680 Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,400 of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,040 We're no longer slaves to sin, for when we died with Christ, we 6 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,880 were set free from the power of sin. 7 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,800 It also identifies us with being part of the body of Christ. 8 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,200 In the New Testament church, when people were baptized after 9 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,760 they believed, they were already a member of the church. 10 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,640 You know, our way in Calvary chapels when people come. 11 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,160 How? How can I become a member of the 12 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,040 church? Where are you born again? 13 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:01,320 Yes. So you've been baptized? 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:02,680 Yes. Well, you're already a member. 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,600 There's nothing to sign, there's nothing to agree upon. 16 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,840 It's just believing in Jesus and following Him. 17 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,480 Believing in Jesus and following Him doesn't stop at salvation. 18 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,720 Your life should look different. There should be evidence of 19 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,200 Christ working in your life today. 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,200 Pastor Clark is going to encourage you to be bold in the 21 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,720 faith you claim and to share Jesus with others around you. 22 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,560 Every day there are people around you who need salvation. 23 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,080 They need the same hope for eternity that you have. 24 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,680 You may be the only person in their life who would share Jesus 25 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,040 with them. You could be the one who leads 26 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,440 them to Christ. Now here's Pastor Clark in the 27 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,240 book of Acts Chapter 8 with today's edition of Living Waters 28 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,520 of Grace. This guy's already prepared to 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:55,040 hear about Jesus, and I just get a chance to tell him about him 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,440 and explain things to him. How exciting this is for Philip 31 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,320 and how exciting it is for you and me. 32 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,240 When you have a chance to tell someone about what the Lord has 33 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,759 done for you and how much more exciting it is whenever they 34 00:02:08,759 --> 00:02:12,080 start responding and their eyes start lighting up and they're 35 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,480 getting questions and they want to know and maybe they get to 36 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,680 the point, Well, how can I know this Jesus? 37 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,320 There's nothing more exhilarating in life to have the 38 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,760 opportunity to see God bring someone into salvation because 39 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,840 you were faithful to tell them about Jesus. 40 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,320 Amen. My wife is talking about this 41 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,320 over and over. We were praying the other night. 42 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:38,440 We had a profound discussion about life and aging and kids 43 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,000 and grandkids and family and older moms and just everybody 44 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,880 that's in our life and how we want to be used by the Lord 45 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,360 together as a couple and not be thinking about ourselves or our 46 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,240 opinions or our feelings. But how can we more be more 47 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,800 giving to others and less focused on this ourselves? 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,760 And she told me, and I mentioned this briefly, but I want to 49 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,320 bring it up again. She happened to be in a 50 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,440 neighborhood where her mom lives in a older development. 51 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:10,200 And she had a chance to visit a neighbor about some unrelated 52 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,200 matter. And she went in and the woman 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,120 was crying and her daughter was there. 54 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,640 And Cindy said, what's wrong? She's why I got to break up my 55 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:18,120 home. My husband's died. 56 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,080 I got to leave this place. I can't handle it myself. 57 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,640 They're going to put me in a personal care home now and just 58 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:26,640 seems like my life is this ending and I got all this stuff. 59 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,880 I don't know what to do with it. And and she was just overwhelmed 60 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,800 and distraught, this woman and Cindy began to tell her about 61 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,320 the Lord and she finally got to the point of asking the lady if 62 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,800 she could pray for her. And she says, oh, I would, I 63 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,080 would love that. And so Cindy got to pray for her 64 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,520 and got to impact this woman for Christ. 65 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,720 And she said, Clark, that's all I want to have a chance to do in 66 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,680 life, to have those kind of opportunities, those kind of 67 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,560 divine appointments, because she said there's nothing that makes 68 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,400 you feel any better than that kind of opportunity and 69 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,680 experience, right? And you guys know you've been 70 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,520 there, you've done it. And and so this is the 71 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,520 opportunity that we're learning about today in the book of the 72 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:06,760 act. This is Philip's encounter and 73 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,720 God personalized it. So you and I can sort of think 74 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:14,240 as we study this together, how can I be like Philip and be open 75 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,320 to the Holy Spirit and be ready to tell someone that they need 76 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,440 Jesus? And so Philip runs over and he 77 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,440 is going to begin to speak to him. 78 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,440 In verse 31, this man says, I can't understand any of this 79 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,720 unless someone guides me. And he asked Philip to come up 80 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:32,840 and sit with him. The place in the Scriptures 81 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,920 which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the 82 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,880 slaughter. This is from Isaiah chapter 53 83 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,640 verses 7 and 8. Doesn't matter where you go in 84 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,840 the Bible, you can always take wherever it is in the Bible and 85 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:48,400 lead people to the truth of who Jesus is. 86 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:52,880 And as a slam before its shears is silent, so he opened not his 87 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,840 mouth, and his humiliation, His justice was taken away. 88 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,040 And who would declare his generation for his life is taken 89 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,000 from the earth? Now, you and I being believers 90 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,120 right away, we know, hey, that's Jesus, that's prophetical, 91 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,000 that's been fulfilled in the death, the bearer resurrection 92 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,600 of Jesus Christ. But the eunuch is hearing and 93 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,280 reading this for the first time. So the eunuch answers Philip and 94 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,320 says, I ask of you, of whom does this prophet say this? 95 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:25,280 Of himself or of some other man? And that's sort of the view of 96 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,160 the Jewish people when they read Isaiah 53. 97 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,760 If you ask a Jewish person who do you think that's about, 98 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,640 they'll say, well, that's a prophet or that's about the 99 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:36,920 Messiah. Or they might just be honest and 100 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,080 say we have no idea when we read that, what that's talking about. 101 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:45,200 South Philip opens his mouth and beginning at this Scripture, 102 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,640 preaches Jesus to him. So not only did he cover this 103 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:55,000 section of Scripture in Isaiah of this being fulfilled when 104 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,720 Jesus came to earth, but he would go into the teachings of 105 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,160 the Gospels and the experience that they've had already in the 106 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,960 book of the Acts with the preaching of the Gospel and how 107 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,080 thousands of people are becoming believers because they're 108 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,960 hearing about Jesus saves for the first time. 109 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,640 Jesus saves from sin. Jesus forgives sin. 110 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,560 Jesus cleanses us from sin. And so when Philip is preaching 111 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,880 to Jesus, to him, and they're going down the road, it says now 112 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,560 as they went down the road, they came to some water, interesting 113 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,280 water. And the eunuch said, see, here 114 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:33,440 is water. What hinders me from being 115 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:37,040 baptized back in those days, they had public baptism. 116 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,280 It wasn't done in the backyard of someone's home or in the YMCA 117 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:45,560 or in some church facility. They love going out into the 118 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,840 community, into streams and lakes and rivers and get a big 119 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:53,160 crowd of people around and have people publicly baptized. 120 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,080 Because when that happened, the culture all of a sudden said, 121 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,320 something's going on here with these Christians. 122 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,120 Every time I turn around, they're, they're, they're being 123 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,160 dunked underwater and they're, they're following Jesus. 124 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,680 What's going on here? And it convicts them. 125 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,720 And maybe they're thinking I'm missing out on something or I 126 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,200 should be baptized or I should follow Jesus. 127 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,040 I mean, all kind of thoughts happen when people see other 128 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:20,360 people baptized, as this man recognized right away the 129 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,600 significance of water, and water represents purification and 130 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:25,760 cleansing. He would have been taught that 131 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,360 in the school of Judaism. But that water can't cleanse us 132 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,560 from our sin. It's a purification, right? 133 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,840 Temporal. But it can't wash away sin, only 134 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,880 the blood of Jesus Christ. What can wash away my sin? 135 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,200 Nothing but the blood of Jesus, right? 136 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,040 We sang about that this morning, the blood of Jesus. 137 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,200 That's without the shedding of blood. 138 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,960 There is no remission of sin. If we walk in the light as 139 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,240 Christians, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one 140 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,000 with another. We have this communion, we have 141 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,280 this oneness, we have this unity, and the blood of Jesus 142 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,400 Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. 143 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,400 Amen. If we confess our sin, he is 144 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,120 faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from 145 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,080 all unrighteousness. It takes the blood of Jesus to 146 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,320 do that, the only sacrifice that could take away our sin. 147 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:22,280 And so Philip says to him, if you believe with all your heart, 148 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,240 you may. Now when you think about when 149 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:30,840 you first became a believer and the Lord brought you to the 150 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,679 knowledge of your need of salvation, and you began to 151 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:40,480 think about, you know, this, this power of the of the cross 152 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,960 and what it can do for you. You realize that first of all, 153 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,840 when you believe, you were maybe in front of someone that 154 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,120 understood you were believing, or maybe you were by yourself 155 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,640 when you believed like I was, but you knew that now you 156 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,200 believed. You once didn't believe and now 157 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:00,120 you believe a young man that used to come to this church. 158 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,360 I'll never forget the story. Wonderful young man and friends 159 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,680 of some good family here. And he had come from a Catholic 160 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,480 background and he never really heard, he said, the Gospel. 161 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,160 He just felt that he was hearing about religion every Sunday. 162 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:15,560 And so I got to know him after a while. 163 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:17,920 And I said, well, by the way, you know, how did you come here? 164 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,680 And he told me and and then I said, were you a Christian? 165 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:23,120 And he said, yeah. I said, well, how did that 166 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,160 happen? He said one Sunday, I'm just 167 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,760 sitting here and all of a sudden I believed. 168 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,120 Isn't that awesome? There was no altar call that he 169 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,120 had to come down the hall to, to like, you know, make some kind 170 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,960 of public confession. He just sat in his seat very 171 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,000 humbly. And the Lord saved him. 172 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,840 It's for by grace we've been saved through faith. 173 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,520 And this is not of ourselves. It's a gift of God, isn't it? 174 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:49,360 Not of works. And no man can boast. 175 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:55,520 So this question that was asked by Philip, Philip said to this 176 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,400 guy who wanted to be baptized, if you believe with all your 177 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,240 heart, you may. Now Philip didn't lead him in 178 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,240 any sinner's prayer here. Be be careful with this. 179 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:07,240 He didn't ask Philip to do anything, did he? 180 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,360 There was no methodology here. And the Scriptures tell us in 181 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,960 Romans chapter 10 that the word is near you and in your mouth 182 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,160 and in your heart. That's you're hearing it, you're 183 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,240 reading it, you're receiving it. That is the Word of Faith which 184 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,520 we preach, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, 185 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,680 this is what the man's doing. If you confess with your mouth 186 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,760 the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised 187 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,480 him from the dead, you will be saved. 188 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:36,440 That's the simplicity of the gospel. 189 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,440 You believe in your heart that Jesus is a Christ, the Son of 190 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:42,960 the living God. God Forgives your sin. 191 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,800 You know you're a Sinner. You're forgiven you. 192 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,360 You're asking him to have mercy on you, whatever it is that you 193 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,120 might have done or have done or continually do. 194 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,360 And this man responds. Phillip says if you believe with 195 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,360 all your heart, you may, you may want to underline this in your 196 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,120 Bible. This is a direct, a clear 197 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:05,360 declaration of believing faith. He answered and said, I believe 198 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,760 that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 199 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,160 Amen. I believe that Jesus Christ is 200 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,800 the Son of God. That's why the Lord said in John 201 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,640 316 so simply, what is a gospel? For God so loved this world that 202 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,560 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 203 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,200 should not perish, but have everlasting life. 204 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,320 That's the gospel. I don't know why in the world 205 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,440 people complicate the gospel. I know people in churches that 206 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,280 wanted to believe, but they said I was afraid of going up front 207 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,080 because I didn't want to be embarrassed and I wanted to keep 208 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:41,560 it private. Well, it didn't. 209 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:43,280 It's not about going up front, is it? 210 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,920 It's about believing. So we as pastors or churches 211 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,640 have tripped up so many people into thinking they must do 212 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:55,120 something in order to be saved, and the only thing they do is 213 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:57,040 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 214 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,800 And thou shalt be saved, if you confess with your mouth the Lord 215 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,720 Jesus, and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from 216 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,520 the dead, thou shall be saved. Now someone has questions in a 217 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,200 church they want to come up after Hey I don't understand 218 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,880 this thing to be saved. Can someone explain to me what 219 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,800 do I have to do? You know, all these things that 220 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,200 go through people's minds. The devil's trying to confuse 221 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,000 people with the simple gospel. Take them aside, sit them down 222 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:23,720 and have a conversation with them. 223 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,240 You might not be able to clearly get it across in 5 minutes after 224 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,720 church, right? Charles Spurgeon in his church, 225 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,480 he had a room where people met for intercession when he 226 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,400 preached. And at the end of the service, 227 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,440 he would meet people down in the office that wanted to receive 228 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,000 Christ and he'd ask them, well, why are you here? 229 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,400 And if they said they don't know, he said, well, you might 230 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:44,440 as well leave because if you don't know, there's nothing I 231 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,600 can do to help you. But if they said I'm here to get 232 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,680 saved, then he would patiently explain to them what the gospel 233 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:54,720 is and what it does and how God can save them. 234 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,960 It wasn't a, you know, a drawn out thing that either we're 235 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:02,720 being convicted and the Lord has given them faith to believe. 236 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,520 And if he wasn't doing that, there was nothing that Charles 237 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,080 or anybody else could do to make someone be a believer. 238 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,720 So soon as Philip heard that, he didn't ask any more questions, 239 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:15,760 did he? Are you sure? 240 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,880 Did you repent of every sin that you've ever done? 241 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,160 Did you tell me all the things you've done? 242 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,480 None of that stuff? He commanded Chariot the 243 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,880 standstill in verse 38. And both Philip and the eunuch 244 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,120 went down into the water, and he baptized him. 245 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,200 Now read between the lines. I don't know what kind of 246 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,800 conversation they have, but he already made the profession of 247 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,440 faith and admitted that he believed that Jesus Christ is 248 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,200 the Son of God. That's enough to baptize someone 249 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,000 every time I baptize someone or Pastor Lewis or you baptize 250 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,600 someone as a Christian. Baptism isn't just something 251 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,440 that pastors do, it's something that believers are to be doing. 252 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:55,280 You can baptize your grandkids in the ocean. 253 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,080 You can baptize them in a swimming pool. 254 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,760 You can baptize them at Lynn Run, whatever you want to do. 255 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:01,880 OK. But the bottom line is when you 256 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:07,120 baptize someone, you want to ask them, do you believe that Jesus 257 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,800 is a Christ? And they say, yes, I believe 258 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,880 that Jesus is a Christ, the Son of God. 259 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:19,240 Then based upon your profession of faith, I baptize you in the 260 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,720 name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, just 261 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:24,800 like Jesus told us to do in a Great Commission. 262 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,560 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every living 263 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,040 creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the 264 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,840 Son and of the Holy Spirit. And you take them in. 265 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,280 You don't come down. Now, if they're a real bad 266 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,440 Sinner, and I've mentioned this before, you keep them down at 267 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:42,120 least 5 minutes, hold them down until they're almost ready to 268 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,160 gasp and die. And then you say, hey, you know, 269 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,680 the Lord gives you a new life, resurrection life. 270 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,360 You just simply baptize them, put them in and bring them out. 271 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,560 And boy, the joy that people experience, it's, it's a 272 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,320 commandment of God. Baptism isn't saving you, but 273 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,800 it's blessing you because you're being obedient to what Jesus 274 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:03,600 said. I remember when I first got 275 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:09,440 saved in the pastor just Baptist Church Baptist like baptized. 276 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,800 Their success is based on how many people they baptize, right, 277 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:14,680 not how many people they disciple. 278 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,120 No, I'm just kidding you. But so you know, these guys 279 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:18,760 hassle on me. Hey, you've been baptized. 280 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,240 I'm not getting baptized. Well, why not? 281 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:22,480 That's works. I've been saved by grace and 282 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:24,600 it's the truth. But I didn't understand this 283 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:29,000 whole idea of like, well, Jesus was baptized and he tells us to 284 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,560 baptize others. So what was the hang up there? 285 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,280 Just my pride. And finally, we're applying to 286 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:36,080 go to a Bible college. And one of the things in the 287 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,680 application was, have you been publicly immersed and baptized? 288 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:40,800 I looked at sin. Yeah. 289 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,680 I said we got to get baptized. So we got baptized in the 290 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,120 church. And boy, like you said, it was a 291 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,720 blessing. I mean, I, I didn't understand 292 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,920 the significance of it until I humbled myself and yielded 293 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:55,640 myself to the Lord and was baptized. 294 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,960 And the rest is the rest is history. 295 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,880 There's one baptism and that is being baptized. 296 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,240 Immerse in the name of the Lord Jesus, in the name of the 297 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,000 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You know, some people get 298 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,960 baptized when they're kids. They're they put a rose on your 299 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,360 head, a baby and a bapt. That's not baptism. 300 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:21,360 Infant baptism is no choice. I'm not saying, you know, it 301 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,520 isn't trying to honor the Lord or anything like that, but you 302 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:26,600 have to be baptized as a believer. 303 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,880 And any way you can be a believer is if you understand 304 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,440 the gospel and if you understand the gospel and you've received 305 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,400 the gospel, then you're to be baptized as a follower of Jesus 306 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:39,680 Christ. That's the New Testament model. 307 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,880 And so the chariot stand still, both Philip and the eunuch went 308 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,960 down into the water. They didn't stand by the water 309 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,000 and he didn't get a cup and pour it on top of them. 310 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,480 They went into the water and he baptized him. 311 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,640 Total immersion. Now, when they came up out of 312 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,360 the water, that means they had to be in the water to come up 313 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,880 out of the water, right? The spirit of Lord cut Philip 314 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,560 away so that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way 315 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,319 rejoicing. Isn't that wild? 316 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,280 So this guy's translated to this place called Azotis. 317 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,240 It's about 30 miles away. Just like, you know, like Star 318 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:16,000 Trek, man. He's going like from point A to 319 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,480 point B when you like to be able to be translated. 320 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:20,440 Lord, I want to go on vacation next week. 321 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,440 I don't feel like driving to New Jersey for seven hours. 322 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:25,520 Can you get me there in like 2 minutes? 323 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,160 That would be awesome. When it that's going to happen. 324 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:29,800 We're in heaven. We're going to be able to go 325 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,200 over the universe, but we're going to have that capability. 326 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,320 But anyway, whenever Philip wasn't there anymore, this 327 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:36,680 eunuch wasn't like all caught up. 328 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:38,840 Oh, where did where did Philip go or whatever. 329 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,280 He's just so excited about what happened to him. 330 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,120 He didn't see him anymore and he went on his way rejoicing and 331 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:49,160 Philip was found at his Otis and passing through. 332 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,960 He preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. 333 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,640 And so baptism. Why should I get baptized? 334 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,520 OK. From the earliest days of the 335 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:05,600 New Testament church, the way people showed that they had a 336 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,880 salvation born again experience was that they were publicly 337 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,600 baptized in the water. That's the way God set it up. 338 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,800 This is the way of a testimony. This is what Jesus wants us to 339 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:24,120 do, and this is the first step of faith observed by new 340 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,600 believers immediately following salvation. 341 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,040 I mean, back in those days, they didn't wait for your schedule. 342 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,680 You got saved, you were baptized right then. 343 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,160 If we had a baptismal font here, we would do that right away. 344 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:38,560 But it's just the nature of how our church is set up. 345 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,360 We don't have that available. Have to go to the swimming pool, 346 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,200 either the why in the winter or my house in the summer. 347 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,640 The act of baptism by immersion in water outwardly expresses the 348 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,960 inward experience of a change that happened in your life 349 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:56,120 because of Jesus Christ. It demonstrates when you're 350 00:18:56,120 --> 00:19:00,240 going into the water, the old way of life is dying in the in 351 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,400 the tomb, like Jesus represents dying for our sins into the 352 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,640 tomb. And the third day he rose again 353 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,600 from the dead. And when you come up out of the 354 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,480 water, it's the magnificent work of Jesus. 355 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,720 He died for your sins and now you're rising out, showing that 356 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,440 you've been justified. It tells us in Colossians 357 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,800 chapter 2, verse 12. For you were buried with Christ 358 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,240 when you were baptized, and with him you were raised to new life 359 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,760 because you trusted the mighty power of God who raised Christ 360 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,400 from the dead. Baptism is ordained by the Lord. 361 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:34,040 It's part of the Great Commission. 362 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,160 As I've already said. We're told to go and make 363 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,440 disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of 364 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,760 the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 365 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,360 That's wonderful. And we're told then to teach the 366 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,560 people after they become believers, to obey everything 367 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,880 that the Lord's commanded us. That's the purpose of going 368 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,600 through the Bible and Sunday and all these different Bible 369 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,480 studies that we have and different pastors online that 370 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,800 are teaching the Word. It's the purpose to disciple and 371 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,880 get you strong in your faith so you're stable and you're able to 372 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:09,560 grow in the ways of the Lord. Baptism is again, being obedient 373 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,360 to Jesus. We want to please him. 374 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,280 We're being baptized to please the war, the Lord. 375 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,920 The word Christian means Christ's follower, and so as 376 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,680 we're being baptized, we're following Christ. 377 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,560 It unites us with Christ by identifying us with his death, 378 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:29,800 burial, and resurrection. And so the Word tells us that we 379 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,080 were therefore buried with Him through baptism. 380 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:38,040 Paul talks about this in Romans Into death in order that just as 381 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,600 Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, 382 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,760 we too may live in a new life. Romans 6, three and four. 383 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,040 Likewise, baptism represents our death of the old life of sin and 384 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,120 our new birth into resurrection of life. 385 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,000 The freedom that we have now from bondage to sin, since we've 386 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,520 been united with Him and His death, were also raised to life 387 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,400 as He was. We know our old sinful selves 388 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,000 were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in 389 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,840 our lives. We're no longer slaves to sin, 390 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,120 for when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of 391 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,000 sin. It also identifies us with being 392 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,080 part of the body of Christ In the New Testament church, when 393 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:22,200 people were baptized after they believed they were already a 394 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,000 member of the church. You know our way in Calvary 395 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,600 chapels and people come on, how? How can I become a member of the 396 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,400 church? Where are you born again? 397 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:30,880 Yes, you've been baptized. Yes. 398 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,720 Well, you're already a member. There's nothing to sign. 399 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,120 There's nothing to agree upon. It's just believing in Jesus and 400 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:41,320 following him. And you've been baptized if you 401 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,800 haven't been baptized and we get you baptized. 402 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,880 So for you are all children of God through faith in Christ 403 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,040 Jesus, all who have been united, united with Christ and baptism 404 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,960 have put on Christ like putting on new clothes. 405 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,880 And so when we think about this, this idea of baptism, it's, it's 406 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:05,800 a joy, it's a privilege to be baptized. 407 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,880 And it's an opportunity to to really honor the Lord and what 408 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,280 it is that he wants us to do in the days ahead. 409 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,560 I believe like baby steps for the Lord to work on our lives, 410 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,480 that if I want to grow and get closer to the Lord, there's 411 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,280 there's steps in the Christian life that I'm required to begin 412 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,760 to walk in so that my life begins to become more Christ 413 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:32,440 like and less like myself. And baptism is the immediate 414 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,960 first step after you've been born again to be baptized. 415 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,280 Let's pray, Father, we're just so thankful, Lord, for your joy 416 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,200 in our church, in our lives. Because of you. 417 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,880 Lord, we're thankful so much for the Word of God that we can hear 418 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,840 it and believe it and apply it and live it. 419 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:54,720 And Lord, we pray in the days ahead that Lord, many would come 420 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,160 to know you because of your word being passed out, letting people 421 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,320 know the truth of the word. There's a famine for the Word of 422 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,320 God in the world right now. There's a lack of places where 423 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,680 people can even find the Word of God anymore. 424 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,520 Lord, I pray that you would help us, Lord, to be faithful to do 425 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,560 this. Use the resources, Lord, that we 426 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:16,760 give to help us buy more and more Bibles. 427 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,720 Lord, thank you for those who give to this ministry and help 428 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:22,440 provide, Lord, and we pray you bless them for it. 429 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,560 Lord, we pray, God, as we are provided for by you, that we 430 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,160 equip the Saints for the work in the ministry, that we, Lord, are 431 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,160 interested in people coming to know Jesus. 432 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,840 Lord, every we know that's your heart continually. 433 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:40,200 Lord, there's not enough that we could get back to you ever that 434 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,480 would would pay you for what you've done for us. 435 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,600 But we're thankful, Lord, You don't ask for payment. 436 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,560 You made the payment for us. You died in our place. 437 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,560 Shed your blood for us that we might be set free and forgiven. 438 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,640 We praise you for that, Lord. We're so glad you joined us 439 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,320 today on this edition of Living Waters of Grace. 440 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:04,800 Pastor Clark is teaching through the book of Acts, which is the 441 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,000 only book that chronicles the history of the early church 442 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,160 immediately after Jesus's ascension. 443 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,960 It gives us a front row seat to how the Gospel began to move 444 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,720 outward, starting in Jerusalem and reaching into the heart of 445 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,160 the Roman Empire. In just three decades, a small 446 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,400 group of frightened ordinary believers became a bold, spirit 447 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,760 empowered movement that transformed the known world. 448 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:32,640 Acts is not just a history lesson. 449 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,880 It's a reminder of what God can do when His people are 450 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,680 surrendered, obedient, and filled with the Holy Spirit. 451 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,440 Their perseverance still inspires us today. 452 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,920 May we follow their example and live faithfully for Christ in 453 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,280 our own time. We hope today's message 454 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,000 encouraged you. Living Waters of Grace is a 455 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,840 ministry of Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland. 456 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,240 If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to have you join 457 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,920 us in person. Our Sunday service begins at 458 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:08,400 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B. 459 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,040 Be sure to visit calvarychapelonline.com to 460 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,400 confirm times and learn more. If you are in the Greensburg 461 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:20,280 area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency. 462 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,320 Please pray about supporting this outreach. 463 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:31,240 Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO, Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. 464 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,840 Stay connected through Facebook, YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel 465 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,360 Westmoreland app. Join our e-mail list, submit 466 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:45,600 prayer requests, and give online all at calvarychapelonline.com. 467 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,400 Thank you for tuning in and spending this time in God's 468 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,360 Word. Be sure to join us again for 469 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:52,040 Living Waters of Grace.