Series: “WIJD” — Sermon #6 “Jesus Is Getting Baptized”

Series: “WIJD” — Sermon #6 “Jesus Is Getting Baptized”

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

Mark 1:8  “I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

“Baptize”:– to immerse, to submerge, to bathe, to overwhelm, to pickle, to produce a permanent change. 

Not just getting wet. 

An identification and a union with Christ that results in a genuine change. 

“Dam up the Detroit River, and baptize the entire city.”  Henry Ford

Luke 3:21-22 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. …

… And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’”

Three Baptisms: 

1. Spirit baptizes the believer into Christ / Body   

2. Disciple baptizes a believer in water. 

3. Jesus baptizes believer in the Holy Spirit

Jesus Himself followed this process.
1. He was born from above. 

2. He was baptized in water. 

3. He was baptized in the Holy Ghost.
John 1:33 “Spirit descending, and remaining on Him,”

John 6:38, 40 “For I have come … not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The first command to the church is not “GO” but “WAIT”.
Luke 24:49 (NLT) “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

Baptism is not a ritual to be performed but a dynamic that must be a present day and continuous reality.

Matthew 28:19-20  “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…” 

1 Peter 3:21 (MSG)  “The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus’ resurrection before God with a clear conscience.”

Five Imperatives Of Water Baptism

1.  A Call To Follow Jesus

Matthew 3:15 “Permit it to be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” 

2. A Promise To Receive The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:38 “…and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The way to the fullness of the Holy Spirit is opened up to the believer.

3. A Call To Identify With Jesus Christ

Romans 6:3-7 “old man was crucified with Him,… he who has died has been freed from sin.”

Joshua 3:14-17 “…the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water …  the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam.”

4. A Circumcision To Be Performed

Colossians 2:11-15 “… spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized.”

Opens The Way To Promise!!!  GRACE

Genesis 17:5, 11. “No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; … You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you”

5.  A Freedom To Be Appropriated

1Cor10:1-2 / Ex 14:23-31

Free from bondage

Free from accusation

Free from oppression

Jesus caused an exodus and brought you into FREEDOM.

Exodus 14:28 “Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.”

Colossians 2:10, 12 “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority …  For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized …  In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.”

Paul Harvey 

said, “To my surprise, I found myself going forward. The preacher had said there was nothing magic in the water. Yet as I descended into the depths & rose again I knew something life changing had happened – a cleansing inside out. No longer did there seem to be two uncertain contradictory Paul Harvey’s, just one immensely happy one. I felt the fulfilling surge of the Holy Spirit in my life.” 

went on, “The change this simple act made in my life is so immense as to be indescribable. Since totally yielding to Him in baptism, my heart can’t stop singing. Also, perhaps because baptism is such a public act & because one’s dignity gets as drenched as one’s body, I discovered a new unself-consciousness in talking about my beliefs.”

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