2:38 - The Numbers of Help - Part 3 - Pastor Raymond Woodward

this is the last part of a short series called 238 the numbers of help and this bible study series is about the most important message in scripture because it's how to get saved if you don't get this message nothing else really matters if you don't get this you can come to a church you can enjoy sermons from preachers and sing songs from singers and you can enjoy the atmosphere and the emotion of a service but if you don't get this all the rest of that really doesn't matter very much because all of the rest won't take you into eternity but if you are born again like jesus said you get to go to eternity forever with him and and live with him in heaven so that's that's amazing last week i want to pick up one point we mentioned the word gospel a lot of people misunderstand that it's from an anglo-saxon term god's spell and that means good message god message or good story and so we use an english transliterated term the good news in place of that greek word and the greek word is you angelian and so we say the good news or the gospel but a lot of people misunderstand that in the greek language you angelian is actually kind of a circular word it signifies not only a messenger that brings good news but it also completes the circle by having a response to the good news if a messenger in ancient times brought news of a victory the city's response might be to fill the streets with parades and decorate the buildings and cheer and offer sacrifices or prayers to their gods whatever gods they worship and so that's the sense of this word you angelian it's not just the message coming to us it's our response to the message so the gospel if you look at the scripture signifies not only the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ that is the gospel but it isn't a gospel to you until you respond to it in a biblical way so only when you have a message coming and a response to that message does it become you angelian or the gospel in other words without a biblical response the gospel is incomplete in your life a lot of christians today have bought into the idea well i believe in jesus and so that's all it takes uh but again last week we mentioned this that the apostle james he grew up in the same house as jesus he was a half brother they didn't have the same father of course but they had the same mom and james he later became one of jesus disciples and even became one of the leaders in the jerusalem church and so james had a little bit of a front row seat on jesus particular brand of theology and what jesus thought and here's how james described faith he said faith if it has not works it is dead being alone he said if you don't do something because of your faith it's dead faith and so a lot of people say well i believe well that's wonderful but unless your belief makes you do something in accordance with scripture it's dead faith faith that doesn't do anything it's it's not living it's not working so let me put it very plainly at the outset because this is so important if you never respond to the word of god if you never submit to the word of god if you never obey the word of god then your faith is dead faith it accomplishes absolutely nothing and nowhere in scripture is the reality of this living faith more important than when we preach about salvation the gospel is not the gospel when you hear it it's not the gospel when you understand it or accept it or even believe it the gospel becomes the gospel in your life only when you obey it because when you obey the gospel you apply the gospel and it's so extremely important now you may have seen this anybody ever seen this optical illusion anybody ever seen that one no good i may get to spring this on a few of you this now famous drawing first appeared on a german postcard in 1888 and it was later adapted by british cartoonist william ellie hill who published it in a humor magazine in 1915 under this title my wife and my mother-in-law it's a trick of the eye because the image actually contains two people depending on how you look at it do you see an old lady in that picture does anybody see a young woman in that picture okay researchers in our generation say you are most likely to first see the person who is closer to you in age it's a sort of psychological age bias but once you know the trick you can see both of them so you know which woman you saw first either the old woman looking down and to the left or the young woman facing away from us looking over her right shoulder and if you still can't see it you might need to get your glasses checked or here's a hint to help you see the alternate image the old woman's nose is the young woman's chin i asked for revelation we just prayed for it so and here's something else that research tells us once you see both images you can't unsee it once you see both you can't unsee it it is the same brothers and sisters with biblical truth it's the same with apostolic revelation it's the same with the oneness of god it's the same with the three parts of the new birth experience once you see it you can't unsee it you you may change in your life you may walk away from jesus or church and and so you might end up debating or denying or fighting or forsaking but you can't unsee it once you've seen it you'll always see it and god himself will hold you responsible to do something with it because he's the one who revealed it to you now john tells us there are three elements that bear witness in earth that work together he says they agree in one in first john 5 and 8. and he says these three elements agree in one to give us eternal life they are the spirit and the water and the blood and if you read through scripture you will see this three-step process these three elements just about everywhere it was three steps that delivered the israelites from their egyptian bondage they had to put the blood on their doorpost and they walked through the water of the red sea and then the pillar of cloud and fire led them away from egypt it was three pieces of furniture in the tabernacle that were involved in atonement of israel's sins the other pieces of furniture were very valuable but they were used for worship but three pieces were used for atonement the brazen altar where blood was shed the brazen laver where the priests would wash and the ark of the covenant where the shekinah presence of god dwelt jesus said three steps were involved in a seed being born again and bringing forth fruit the seed dies and then the seed is buried in the ground and then the seed germinates with new life and jesus told nicodemus in john chapter 3 the chapter that started this little series that being born again was like the three steps of natural birth the baby is conceived it grows in the water of the womb and then it takes its first breath at the moment of birth and jesus made that so vivid and so powerful and so real that nicodemus said wait a minute do i have to go back and enter into my mother's womb jesus made it that real the apostle paul told us that there were three parts of the gospel in first corinthians 15 we'll read it in a moment christ died for our sins he was buried in the grave and then he rose again the third day and paul mentions according to the scripture it was all set up it was all prophesied and then of course our theme scripture for this series the apostle peter told us exactly the three steps to take in order to obey the gospel in acts 2 on the first day of church history if you want to apply jesus sacrifice to your life you need to repent of your sins you need to die to your old way of living you need to be baptized in the only saving name of jesus christ and he said that's for the remission of sins and then he said and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost that power of god that enters your life so this is the bridge that we talked about last night it's a three-step process it's a beautiful unfolding of these three powerful elements blood water and spirit and jesus built the bridge and jesus blood paid for the bridge but we've got to choose to cross the bridge what would have happened if the israelites had stopped short on the night of passover no deliverance what would have happened if the high priest had shot stopped short in the tabernacle there would have been no atonement what happens if the seeds growing process stops short no plant what happens if a pregnancy stops short no baby what would have happened if jesus had stopped short no redemption and most importantly what happens if you stop short in your obedience to the gospel i would argue no salvation you can't have it the same way all through scripture and then pull out an exception clause when you don't want to obey what the word of god says now most christian denominations today do an admirable job a profound job a heart-touching job of preaching the gospel message but by the same token most christian denominations today stop stop short of telling people how to obey the gospel they they preach us to the point of conviction and then it's like they fumble the ball and just believe on jesus or just ask jesus in your heart and they don't do what the first church did they don't ask us to apply the gospel the way the first church applied the gospel they skipped the most important part because the gospel isn't the gospel just when you hear that beautiful story the gospel isn't just the gospel when you start to understand a little bit of theology the gospel isn't even the gospel when you say well i believe in jesus or i believe the church preached that or i believe it's all true the gospel becomes the gospel when you obey it because when you obey the gospel you apply the gospel to your own life now in case you're wondering what the gospel is here's paul saying it for emphatically in first corinthians 15 and i would say that once you see how important acts 2 38 is you can't unsee it it's going to always be there you may deny it you may fight it you may argue against it but once you see how important it is you can't unsee it first corinthians 15 paul said moreover brethren i declare unto you the gospel which i preached unto you this is what you receive this is wherein you stand this is the strength of your salvation it is how you were saved by which also you are saved if you keep in memory what i preached unto you unless you have believed in vain for i delivered unto you first of all that which i also received how that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and then he lists a whole bunch of people who saw jesus after his resurrection and can verify that fact so we don't have to guess what the gospel is because paul told us exactly what it is the gospel is the death the burial and the resurrection of jesus christ and then we go to the theme verse for this series 238 then peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost and again we don't have to guess how to obey the gospel how to respond to the gospel what faith should make us do when we hear the gospel we don't have to guess because peter told us exactly how to obey and apply the gospel through repentance baptism in the name of jesus and the baptism of the holy ghost it's 2 38 it's acts 2 38 the numbers of help and i want to say it again if you don't uh get any other phrase from tonight i hope you get this one when you obey the gospel you apply the gospel repentance applies jesus death to your life baptism applies jesus burial to your life the holy ghost applies jesus resurrection to your life so you don't stop in the middle and say that's good i'm good jesus no it's not complete without all three steps that's the new birth a baby's not born until it takes that first breath so i don't get people that say well yeah the new testament church did it but i don't think everybody has to do all of that today if the new church did it and the new church had it and we're the same church and we've got the same god and he says i'm i'm the same yesterday and today and forever let me tell you i'm going for everything god has for me you are not stopping me hell is not stopping me heaven's not trying to stop me so i am just going to go after everything god has so tonight in this final night of this little series i want to take just back up and take a look just so we're all on the same page for these three elements that work so beautifully in our salvation and the first one is repentance repentance is the first action step that we take toward salvation there's conviction that comes in our heart belief and faith rise in our heart but the first action step the first obedience step that we take toward salvation is repentance somebody said well i'm a good person well that's wonderful and we're glad that you are because you're roaming around our building tonight we're glad you're a good person but all of us were born with a sinful nature and all of us have committed sinful acts so the bible teaches us it is essential that we repent repentance is not penance that's a different kind of religious term it's a man-made idea penance is doing acts of devotion required by a priest to receive absolution for sin that's not in the bible that's a man-made doctrine and practice it's just a religious tradition repentance is not penance repentance is essential though god wants to save us but he requires us to respond to his love by turning from sin how important is here's what jesus said i tell you nay but except you repent ye shall all likewise perish that's jesus so repentance is pretty important now repentance is powerful brothers and sisters and i know that i'm preaching to a pentecostal audience and i'm grateful for that but you let me tell you repentance is powerful in and of itself don't you ever discount somebody's experience with god don't you ever put down somebody's experience with god that's repented and god has begun this wonderful change in their life that is amazing it should be commended we should thank god for that we should celebrate that we should not say well you don't have enough we should say you're well on the way let's go further we need to celebrate repentance repentance genuine repentance is why some of your friends and family who've maybe never been baptized in jesus name never received the holy ghost but they've still had a major change in their lives they're not all the way there yet but they have experienced something undeniable don't shut that down don't criticize that don't don't look at that as with disdain you need to fan the flame and you need to encourage them and thank god for what he's doing in their life they've experienced something undeniable and that's because real repentance turning away from sin is powerful it's not a dead end it's not a stop sign it's not a conclusion it's not the whole package but repentance is powerful in and of itself the greek word for repentance is metanoia which means an inner change of attitude leading to an outward change of behavior when you really repent your life will change that's why john the baptist said bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance in matthew 3 and 8. repentance on the inside always results in some kind of evidence on the outside because people's lives change their priorities change all of that begins to change now some people define repentance only as repentance is feeling sorry for your sins i'm not going to quarrel with you over that definition but i will say this real repentance has nothing to do with what you feel if you feel sorry for your sin that's wonderful because the bible says godly sorrow works repentance but you can feel bad that you get caught and come pray at the altar every weekend and go live like a hellion all week long and keep doing that endless cycle all year long and that's not real repentance that's just feeling sorry that you're putting yourself in a mess over and over again real repentance has nothing to do with what you feel it has everything to do with what you actually do you may feel deep emotion or you may weep or you may feel very little when you repent because repentance is not an emotion so it doesn't matter what you feel if you need to repent you say well i'm sorry god for my sin and i'm turning away from that sin and i don't want that part of my life and you're worried that you didn't feel some big bolt from heaven when you prayed that you don't have to worry about that repentance is not a feeling i'll tell you where you'll see your repentance is tomorrow when you don't go back to the same things you used to do that's the decision that is real repentance repentance means a turning around a turning away an about-face walking away from sin here's what paul told the romans he said knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin you see what happens is when you repent you become dead to that sin it's like you died to it repentance is applying the death of jesus to your life i die to those old attitudes i die to those old habits i die to that old lifestyle i die to it i walk away from it that brothers and sisters is repentance and that leads us to the next step in the new birth process and it i use the word process cautiously because process it divides it too much for me you don't sit in the hospital and and divide all the parts of the birth process in your head it's just a baby's being born and everybody's excited and i hope we can see the new birth like that it's wonderful to see people born again into the kingdom of god so this isn't meant to be analyzed it's meant to be obeyed and when you obey the gospel you apply the gospel and if any man be in christ he's a new creature all things are passed away and behold all things are become new so we need to get excited about anybody taking any step in the new birth i don't care if it's repentance at an altar or receiving the holy ghost or getting baptized i don't care about all that i just care that they do it because our goal here is not to be a religious club it's to get people from this life to the next life and jesus told us and peter told us and the bible tells us how to do this so let's talk about baptism for a moment when you look at baptism you know some people they have little debates about this or that really you need to go all the way back to the beginning which isn't acts chapter 2 it's what jesus told his disciples to go and preach before he left them and then they obeyed that in acts chapter 2. here's the last command of jesus matthew 28 19 go ye therefore teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and the holy ghost everyone say baptizing mark chapter 16 he said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature he that believeth and is there is a baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned the last words of jesus here's how luke records it and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at jerusalem your witnesses of these things behold i send the promise of my father upon you but terry in the city of jerusalem until you be ended with power from on high notice that jesus said you go and preach repentance and remission of sins we know from acts 2 38 that's a no-brainer remission of sins is associated with baptism and finally john chapter 20 verse 23 john records it in a very unique way which would really give you pause unless you realize what he was talking about jesus looks at his own disciples and he says whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained now theologically that's troubling to me until i realize what jesus is talking about because the bible doesn't teach us anywhere that any man or any woman can forgive your sins just by going i forgive you of your sins i remit your sins your sins are we can't do that jesus could do that we can't do that i can't remit your sins unless i happen to be the christian the apostolic that is involved in preaching the gospel to you and you obey it and you choose to get baptized or maybe i'm the pastor or the person or the missionary or whoever that actually has the privilege of baptizing you in water in the name of jesus then we understand what jesus is saying when you go and preach the gospel as i said to you go preach repentance and remission of sins whosoever sins you remember they're remitted unto them if you baptize somebody in jesus name oh you didn't forgive their sins but you sure helped in the process when you put them under the water in the name of jesus there's nothing magic about the water and there's nothing magic about the preacher but there's something supernaturally powerful and dynamic about the name of jesus and you had a part in remitting their sins when you got them to be baptized in jesus name but the reverse is true if you don't do that and if they don't get baptized whosoever sins ye retain they are retained so on the screen that's four gospel writers telling us the last commandment of jesus to his disciples so you don't have to wonder where this came from because the last command of jesus became the first command of the church it's so simple once you see it you can't unsee it the very last thing jesus told them to go and preach they went and preached the very last things he told them to go and do they went and did and so the very first command of the church is from the apostle peter but he's got every other apostle standing there with him and here's what he says repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost where did you get that peter every once in a while somebody says something really inane to me like well i'd rather obey the words of jesus than the words of peter where do you think peter got those words he got that all from jesus and so jesus told him you go and preach this and this is what i'm going to do you preach repent and be baptized and when they do their part when you preach your part i will do my part and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost i'm so grateful for that so this becomes the first command of the church now when you talk about baptism there are two critical parts to baptism first of all is the mode that is what is done when you're baptized and then there's the formula that is what is said so let's look at the mode first and basically in christendom today there are two modes of baptism that are practiced in christendom today first of all there's baptism by immersion they put you under the water when they baptize you that would be the greek word baptizo and then there's another mode of baptism that's practiced in some places in christianity today and that is sprinkling and usually this is done with infants but not always and that is the greek word uh sprinkling would be the greek word rantizo so very quickly we're not going to take a lot of time here for many of you this is review and you can uh the great thing is this will be on youtube until the rapture uh so you can go back and you can pause me and you can uh just go through all these scripture references so here we go here's the scriptural record for immersion let's look at that one first john 3 23 john the baptist they were baptizing because there was much water there because they needed to put people under the water you can baptize out of a cup if you're sprinkling but not if you're immersing acts 8 30 38 they went down into the water philip and the ethiopian eunuch acts 8 39 they came up out of the water and so there's they're immersing when they baptize that way romans 6 and 4 paul said we are buried in water therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death so so we're buried with him when we're baptized that's why we baptize by immersion and romans 6 and 5 he said we are planted in water we are planted together in the likeness of his death so every one of those instances or terms signify somebody being put under the water and that is the actual uh meaning of the greek word baptizo it means to fully plunge under the water to immerse under the water to bury in the water so that's the scriptural reference when it comes to immersion and here's the scriptural references and the scriptural reference when it comes to sprinkling there are none it's not in there so we learn very quickly from scripture if scripture is important to you that baptism must be done by immersion to be biblical baptism and then we look at the second critical element of baptism the mode is what is done the formula is what is said and there again are basically two formulas of baptism practiced today in christianity one is i baptize you in the name of jesus christ the lord jesus christ and the other is i baptize you in the name of the father and the son and the holy ghost and again i'll do the same thing it's quite easy if you look at the scriptural reference for baptism in the name of jesus christ here's what you'll see when the church started in acts chapter 2 and verse 38 the command was be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and that was the jews that's where the church started but you go a few more chapters and the samaritans come into the church in acts 8 and it says in acts 8 16 they were baptized in the name of the lord jesus and then the gentiles thanked god the gentiles came into the church or none of us would get to be part of the church in acts 10 he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the lord and then in acts 19 and verse 5 there's a group of john the baptist disciples they live in ephesus and paul runs across them and talks to them and they don't even know whether there's a holy ghost that's one problem but they had only been baptized unto john's baptism which was great before jesus provided a way of salvation it was a baptism unto repentance so john's baptism basically had about the same spiritual significance as your repentance it didn't do the whole job but once jesus died baptism in jesus name was provided now here's the thing um it was so important to these people they had been baptized by the man who baptized the lord jesus that's a pretty good pedigree right there i got baptized the way jesus got baptized i got baptized by the man who baptized the lord jesus and yet paul when he talked to them he told them you need to be baptized again so we have biblical precedent please hear me if you've never been baptized in the name of jesus we have biblical precedent for you moving forward we're not criticizing whatever you've done in your love for the lord we're so thankful for that but when you see this you need to move on like these people did and the bible says they were baptized when they saw it they were baptized in the name of the lord jesus but there's more than just that here's the teaching of peter and paul on this subject peter taught in acts 4 and 12 neither is there salvation in any other for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved so if the only name that can save you is jesus what name are you going to use when you get baptized of course you're going to use the name of jesus paul taught this in colossians 3 17 he said and whatsoever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the lord jesus giving thanks to god and the father by him if you are going to thank the lord for your corn flakes in the name of jesus surely when you do something as important as getting baptized you're going to choose to do it in the name of jesus paul said do everything whatever you do in word or deed well baptism is both it's a word spoken over you it's his name invoked upon you and it's a deed it's being immersed in the watery grave of baptism so of course we would do it in jesus name so that's the scriptural record when it comes to the name of the lord jesus christ and here's the scripture when it comes to in the name of the father and the son and the holy ghost being baptized now we are it is not a malfunction there is nothing now somebody said well wait just a minute you just read matthew 28 19 a few minutes ago and matthew 28 19 sure sounds like that it says go therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy ghost so isn't that an alternate baptismal formula and i'm glad you brought that up because here's the scriptural record on that first of all no one is being baptized in that verse they are on a mountain actually there is no pool of water up there jesus is about to ascend and he's giving them a command nobody's being baptized here unlike the other accounts which we read secondly name is singular these three titles don't have any particular authority they just described the one name that has all authority jesus was the father in creation he was the son by incarnation and he is the holy ghost by what we would call emanation he fills this his church today when you have the holy ghost in you you don't have another spirit you have the spirit of jesus in you the holy ghost is christ in you the hope of glory and so it's one name it is the name not names because father son and holy ghost are not names they are titles but here i think is the one thing that just speaks this so loudly to me matthew wrote his gospel we think around a.d 62 about 30 years after the day of pentecost for 30 years every believer all through the book of acts has been baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ everybody so matthew didn't suddenly pick up his pen in a.d 62 when he sat down to write his gospel account and say hey i'm going to campaign for a new baptismal formula no matthew was writing to the jews mark wrote to a different audience so did luke so did john matthew wrote to the jews and he wants to tell the jews his gospel is so beautiful he's constantly saying jesus did this or said this or went here that it might be fulfilled read matthew he says that all the time he's tying old testament prophecy to this new testament jesus it's an amazing gospel he's doing the same thing here he wants the jews to know this name we've been preaching for 30 years these people that have been baptized in the name of jesus we've gone to jail for the name of jesus we've been beaten by the name of jesus some of us have died for the name of jesus let me tell you who he is when we baptize in the name of jesus we are baptizing in the name of the father we are baptizing in the name of the son and in the name of the holy ghost the holy ghost that has filled the heart of every believer for the past 30 years that's the spirit of jesus that's why we baptize in his name matthew's not campaigning for a different baptismal formula he's simply explaining what happens what covenant you enter into when you're baptized in the name of jesus and finally the apostles didn't just quote jesus command jesus gave them a command go and baptize in the name of the father and the son of the holy ghost they did that do you really think the apostle said hey jesus told us to go there but we're not going to he's gone we'll go over here he won't know you really think they did that the apostles didn't just repeat jesus command they didn't just quote him they obeyed him they went and did exactly so again i would conclude that baptism must be done in the name of jesus christ to be biblical and finally one more thing before we move on there are no delayed baptisms in the new testament the biblical record for baptism is not wait till a year from easter wait till everybody in your family can be baptized together on the same day wait for this or wait for that that's not the biblical record for baptism the biblical record for baptism is this acts 2 41 the same day they were baptized acts 16 33 the same hour they were baptized acts 9 18 immediately they were baptized acts 10 48 he commanded them to be baptized and i love acts 22 16 why terrius thou what in the world are you waiting for arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the lord now so much happens when you are baptized that this could be a whole lesson in and of itself when you're baptized your sins are washed away or remitted acts 22 16 we just read it your conscience is cleansed when you're baptized in jesus name first peter 3 21 you take on the only saving name of jesus when you're baptized in his name galatians 3 27 you are legally brought into god's covenant when you are baptized in jesus name colossians 2 11 and 12 and you are born of the water when you're baptized in jesus name just like jesus said john 3 and 5 and something else happens and this is the point romans 6 verse 3 and 4 know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into jesus christ we were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in newness of life when you are baptized in jesus name you are applying the burial of jesus to your life it's a very important step of obedience and finally i'll move on and i'm moving quickly tonight i want to use your time wisely and i know a lot of you know all of this but there is nothing more important that we preach here in this church i just explained to you the two things that you need to do you need to repent and you need to be baptized in jesus name you can't do this third thing but if you will do the first two things god himself will do this next thing the bible tells us that there were two baptisms for israel there was a baptism by water they said the bible said they went through the sea and there was a baptism by spirit they were under the cloud both baptisms were necessary for them and for us that's first corinthians 10 verse 1 and 2. baptism by water baptism by spirit they were through the sea and they were under the cloud and jesus alluded to the same thing when he said except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god john 3 and 5. so many churches celebrate easter every year most christian churches but they totally miss the point of the resurrection it was so you and i could be raised up not just so jesus could be raised up and we could have a little annual festival every year the resurrection was so you and i could be raised up not just in the future after our physical death that we could be resurrected from the grave but so we could be resurrected right now out of spiritual death and deadness and everything in this world paul said it in first corinthians 6 and 14 and god hath both raised up the lord and he will also raise up us by his own power there's a new song the praise singers sing once in a while uh i hear it in different meetings and if you walked out of the grave i'm walking too if jesus came out of the grave the whole reason he did is so you and i could come out of the grave of our sin you don't have to let the devil run your life one second longer the power of the holy ghost can give you the power to live above sin and live a godly life the whole point of the resurrection is that jesus wants to give us resurrection power and that resurrection power is the holy ghost jesus said behold i send the promise of my father upon you but tarry ye in the city of jerusalem until you be endued with power everyone say power power from on high now the resurrection of jesus was a supernatural event when they killed him nailed him to the cross that was that was an act of man they did that to him when they took his lifeless body down from the cross put him in the tomb wrapped in grave clothes and rolled a heavy stone in front of that tomb that was an act of man they did that but when jesus came out of the grave on easter sunday morning that wasn't an act of man that was an act of god when you repent of your sins that's your decision that's your action an act of man when you are baptized in jesus name that's your decision that's your action the preacher helps you but that's your decision that's an act of man but when you receive the baptism of the holy ghost that's not something the preacher can give you that's not something this church can give you that's not something you can give yourself that is not a figment of your imagination that is a powerful supernatural gift that jesus himself said he would give us and so it makes sense to me that if the resurrection of jesus was supernatural something supernatural is going to happen to you when you receive the baptism of the holy ghost you're not going to have to hope so you're not going to have to guess so you're not even going to have to think so you are going to know so because at the moment you receive the baptism of the holy ghost just like supernatural resurrection power lifted jesus body up off of that slab of rock in that tomb outside jerusalem something is going to enter into your life and something supernatural will happen and you will speak in other tongues you will speak in a language that you never learned it's a supernatural experience acts chapter 2 and when the day of pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and you know this suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind filled all the house where they were sitting there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire sat upon each of them and they were all at that moment and they were all filled with the holy ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance as the spirit gave them ability now this was amazing but it shouldn't have been a surprise isaiah had prophesied about it for with stammering lips and another tongue will god speak to this people joel had prophesied about it it shall come to pass afterward that i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh joel prophesied that way back in joel chapter 2. and in fact his prophecy became very important in acts chapter 2. because in acts chapter 2 and verse 12 when they heard all the disciples speaking in tongues they all gathered and the bible says in acts 2 and 12 they were all amazed and were in doubt saying one to another what meaneth this what's this they were watching people listening to people speaking in other tongues and they wanted to know what's this about this speaking in tongues what meaneth this and peter reached back in verse 16 of acts 2 he reached all the way back to the prophet joel and he pulled joel forward and he said this is that which was spoken by the prophet joel you see joel never mentioned speaking in tongues joel just said there's coming a day when god is going to pour out his spirit upon anybody that wants it upon all flesh and peter said when when he they asked the question what means this speaking in tongues peter said this speaking in tongues is that moment that joel prophesied that god is going to pour out his spirit upon all flesh i don't know about you i'm so thrilled that i get to every once in a while just hook into heaven direct line and pray in the spirit it is the most powerful gift a human being can ever receive it is the most powerful experience you can have in your life it was amazing but it shouldn't have been a surprise john the baptist said in matthew 3 i baptize you with water under repentance but he that cometh after me he's mightier than i whose shoes i'm not even worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the holy ghost and with fire and pentecostals we need a little bit of holy ghost and fire every day of our lives it was amazing but it shouldn't have been a surprise because jesus told them to expect it john chapter 7 he that believeth on me as the scripture has said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water what are you talking about jesus but this spake he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive when jesus said out of your belly is going to flow rivers of living water he wasn't talking about some imaginary feel-good situation he was talking about you leaning back your head and speaking in other tongues as the spirit flowed through you john 16-7 i tell you the truth it's expedient for you that i go away if i don't go away the comforter will not come but if i depart i will send him unto you oh that's good jesus who's this comforter john 14 18 i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you do you understand when you receive the baptism of the holy ghost you're receiving the direct manifest spirit of the lord jesus christ into your life no wonder something supernatural happens at that moment acts 1 verse 5 john truly baptized with water jesus said but ye shall be baptized with the holy ghost not many days hence and brothers and sisters it happened exactly like jesus and like joel and like isaiah and like john the baptist prophesied so when you look at the record of scripture every christian in your bible it was the expectation it was exactly what happened every christian in your bible received the baptism of the holy ghost and spoke with other tongues at the moment of their infilling the record is conclusive the jews when the church began on the day of pentecost in acts 2 the disciples spoke in tongues as the spirit gave them utterance peter and mary for our wonderful dear catholic friends peter and mary the mother of jesus they were both in the upper room according to acts 1 13 and 14 and so peter and mary the mother of jesus both received the baptism of the holy ghost and spoke in other tongues and as the church started to expand when it moved out to the samaritans simon the sorcerer he watched the apostles move among the people and he saw them praying for people and he saw something happen and he wanted it so bad he had much influence and much respect he was kind of a worker in all kinds of weird magical arts but he couldn't do this he couldn't make you talk in a language that you'd never learned in school and that's what's happening he offered them money for it and they said now your money perished with you you can't buy this simon the sorcerer and you can't buy it today but you can't experience it it is the free gift of the lord jesus christ to those that obey the gospel oh my goodness i don't want to go too long tonight or maybe i do i'm not sure the gentiles thank god that acts chapter 10 happened because of a reluctant preacher named peter 20 years after the day of pentecost hadn't been coerced by three visions sent by jesus to go to a household of a dirty rotten pagan gentile we might have never got in this but peter went to the household of cornelius and he began to preach the gospel to them and he said of a truth i perceive i've had it wrong for 20 years god is no respecter of persons i thought god was going to leave this holy ghost this wonderful baptism in jesus name this new birth experience i thought he was going to leave it among the jews and that you'd have to become a jew before you could become an apostolic but all of a sudden i see it clearly god is no respecter of persons you don't have to change your ethnicity or your nationality or your educational status or your financial background to become an apostolic you just have to obey and apply the gospel and while peter yet spake these words the holy ghost fell on all them that believe the word and gentiles for the first time i thank god for acts chapter 2 but i really thank god for acts chapter 10 because that's where some gentiles like me first started speaking in tongues you don't think speaking in tongues is important the jews didn't want to let us in their church they fought peter on it read acts chapter 11. peter goes back in the church council they give him fits what do you think you were doing going to that gentile house what do you think you were doing preaching to gentiles what's this we hear about gentiles receiving the holy ghost like we did at the beginning and here i love peter's answer what was i to do he said they spoke in tongues they received the holy ghost just like we did at the beginning so before you dis speaking in tongues and before you say it's not all that important and it's totally optional it is the most ironic thing in modern christendom that churches today christian churches so-called teach against speaking in tongues when there wouldn't be a gentile church of any breed or branch or stripe or denomination if it had not been for speaking in tongues because they weren't going to let us in but when they heard some pagan gentiles converted by the presence of god when they heard them speak in tongues they suddenly realized this is not just for the jews it is for you and for your children and to all that are afar off even as many as the lord our god shall call oh my goodness paul told the corinthians he said i speak in tongues more than you all so he he thought this was pretty good and pretty important and then the ephesian disciples that we mentioned a moment ago not only had they not been baptized in jesus name but when he asked him do you know about the holy ghost they said we haven't even heard whether there be any holy ghost what are you talking about paul and so they were re-baptized and the biblical record tells us that they spoke with tongues because the question of the apostle to them is the question i would pose to you tonight have you received the holy ghost since you believed obviously there should be a connection if you genuinely believed you should receive the holy ghost you need to receive the holy ghost i was in a debate actually the week we started this series pastors get into all kinds of weird debates with people because you know you're trying to tell people the truth and they want to argue it's like here take this piece of gold no i don't believe in gold please take this piece of gold no i don't want that piece of gold that's your piece of gold i have a different kind of gold what's your goal well it's this dirt over here no please take this piece and go it's like crazy i don't understand people that push back on something so precious when it's just record after record after record have you received the holy ghost since you believed it's supposed to be the natural outgrowth of your belief that you receive the holy ghost and speak in tongues stop trying to talk yourself out of it and so all these people that like to argue they always like to get you into this they think they think they've really succeeded if they can push you into this corner do you have to speak in tongues do you have to speak in tongues do you have to speak in tongues i was so tired of this one person i gave it to eric i said would you answer this person and he did and he told him what we tell them because we'll all tell you the same thing i'm not going to get into that thing with you do i have to no you don't have to think you get to speak in tongues it's not a burden to speak in tongues it's a blessing to speak in tongues it's not something jesus wants to force on you it is the highest privilege to be filled with the spirit of god to such a degree that out of your belly flows a river of living water you can be in the worst situation of your life and all of a sudden you can begin to pray in the spirit and things start to move it's amazing it's a privilege it's an honor to be filled with the baptism of the holy ghost the holy ghost is for everyone it is for you anybody watching me tonight it is for you let me hasten to to a close thank you so much for your patience tonight a 2006 study by researchers at the university of pennsylvania they ran an article in the new york times that was the picture in the religious section that precious lady from ghana and they found that there may be a neurological parallel between what happens when worshipers what be between what worshipers experience when they speak in tongues and what actually is going on psychologically uh physiologically rather in your brain that they studied this connection so they wired people up with electrodes and whatever they do and and that's amazing and i just kind of am envious of that because you know in church where we go one little distraction somebody's like they got people wired up and they're letting them sing and pray and speak in tongues and i don't know how they did that but anyway that's i digress they took brain images they had worshippers do different things like singing a gospel song reading the scripture listening to a sermon like you're doing right now and they they took brain scans and they saw that the speech centers in the front of the brain the speech centers were very active because even while you're listening to me you might not be talking but your speech centers are processing the words i'm saying so that you can understand them but this is the amazing thing that when worshipers begin to speak in tongues the speech centers in the brain went quiet because it's not you speaking when you're speaking in other tongues it's like the holy ghost just bypasses that's that's what's so wonderful it bypasses your intellect you don't have to have a degree in greek and hebrew to speak in tongues you just reach out to jesus let him figure the holy ghost and then you get that gift for the rest of your life and it's not you speaking when you're speaking in tongues yeah it's your tongue and your vocal cords and whatever but you're bypassing the speech centers of your brain because you're not making that up god's flowing those words into you and i don't even have time to tell you how many missionary missionary stories i'm aware of and how many experiences i've had where somebody came up after me to to me after a service and said do you know what you were speaking tonight and all i was doing was praying in tongues i didn't have a sweet clue but i've spoken in two or three languages that i didn't learn and some missionaries they've had preachers from america and canada that are watching somebody in an altar speaking in tongues and they're thinking like wow there's english speakers here and they go up after and start to try to communicate with them and that person doesn't have a clue what they're saying but when they were praying in the spirit they were saying stuff like rivers of water are flowing out from me rivers of living water are flowing out from me they didn't know what they were saying but the holy ghost knew what they were saying and put those words in their mouth i need to move on the holy ghost brothers and sisters is for everybody and it's for you for the promise is unto you and to your children and all that are far off even as many as the lord our god shall call acts 5 and 32 and we are his witnesses of these things and so also is the holy ghost watch whom god hath given to them that obey him how important is it to obey the gospel extremely important because god reserves this gift to those that obey the gospel luke 11 verse 13 jesus said if you then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him you don't need to be a member of ccc to receive the baptism of the holy ghost anybody can receive the baptism of the holy ghost you've just got to obey the gospel you just got to ask jesus for it i quoted him a while a few moments ago paul said have you received the holy ghost since ye believed that's my question for you you're supposed to receive the holy ghost if you've really believed the holy ghost is for everyone it is for you and one last thing romans 8 verse 11 but if the spirit that raised up jesus from the dead if it dwell in you he that raised up christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies how by his spirit that dwelleth in you when you receive the holy ghost you apply the resurrection of jesus to your life because you receive his resurrection power isn't the gospel beautiful isn't the gospel wonderful isn't the gospel powerful amazing the new testament word for repentance is metanoia it's a change of mind but there's an old testament word for repentance it's shub it means destroy the house it's a warfare word it describes a total burning of a city the sacking of a village it means leaving absolutely nothing to go back to it means goodbye to your old life our baptism in water is pictured in scripture by israel's deliverance from egypt through the water of the red sea once the israelites passed through pharaoh's army tried to follow them but they couldn't get through the water and the enemy's armies were drowned that day and have you ever wondered why there were tons of fire on the day of pentecost and why we don't see tongues of fire today it's because every time god instituted a new covenant he sent fire to inaugurate it like he did on mount sinai like he did in the upper room he also sent fire consumed sacrifices on altars like the one that elijah built so here are three final gospel pictures for you in our little series because if you wanted to put repentance baptism and the baptism of the holy ghost in three pictures you could do this repent means destroy the house walk away from your old life don't leave a bunch of connections back there to go back to in a moment of weakness no you sever the connection with your old sins and your old lifestyle and you turn away everyone say destroy the house let me tell you something about your baptism baptism is a legal covenant into the name of jesus and the devil he can go poking around all he wants but he cannot get through the water any more than pharaoh's army could get through the water he might want to dredge up your past but if your past has been legally buried legally put into covenant with the name of jesus he can sniff around the edges of the baptistry all he wants but he cannot dredge up your past sin somebody say drown the army that's what you need to do drown every sin every remembrance everything that comes back to try to haunt you you just tell the devil it's underneath the name of jesus my sins they're washed away and finally if you want a picture the holy ghost think of every altar think of every inauguration of a covenant and somebody say let the fire fall that's three beautiful powerful gospel pictures destroy the house drown the army and let the fire fall the gospel is beautiful and powerful and wonderful paul said i'm not ashamed of the gospel of christ it's the power of god unto salvation but the gospel is in the gospel brothers and sisters if you take anything away from it if you add anything to it it won't work if you do that in galatians paul said those who mix god's message with man's ideas they create a perverse perverted gospel and they are accursed now the judaizers in paul's day it wasn't that they were denying jesus it wasn't that they were saying that that that jesus didn't exist or he didn't die or they they technically were preaching the same gospel he died he was buried he rose again but they were trying to add things to it so they weren't denying the gospel message that's preached by basically every christian denomination and yet paul said but they're accursed why because they changed the plan of salvation that was being preached by the apostles and and he says something very sobering stunning though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed and that is precisely why the very first bible study series in our new sanctuary we decided to preach the most important message that we preach all year long this is precisely why 238 the numbers of help are so critically important in fact they are eternally important acts 2 38 is the only biblical response to the gospel message and that is why we will always preach it no matter what you believe or how you live you are always welcome at our church and you will always be loved by our church but we will always love you enough to tell you the truth no matter who criticizes us for it no matter who leaves us over it because truth matters brothers and sisters and the most important message in scripture is how to get saved because if you don't obey the acts 2 38 message nothing else really matters and i leave it between you and the lord jesus you talk to him about it pray to him about it read his word and you'll see it because once you see it you can never unsee it i'm so glad that out of 7.9 billion people i've seen it i can never unsee it would you lift up your hands i'm finished i thank you for your patience tonight would you lift up your hands in your voice would you give jesus thanks the bible calls this so great salvation would you give him great thanks for the salvation that he's given us i'm so thrilled that i had the privilege of repenting of my sins i am so honored that i was baptized in the name of jesus and i'm so blessed to be filled with the power of the baptism of the holy ghost we're here to help you get that in your life anytime 24 7. it's eternally important why don't you stand to your feet lift your voice clap your hands and let's shout unto the lord before we turn and just walk at a bible study tonight i'm so thankful for the revelation of scripture i'm so thankful for the experience of the new birth i'm so grateful for jesus yes yes thank you jesus thank you jesus oh yes jesus oh yes jesus i thank you god i thank you god i thank you god i worship you jesus lord god i thank you for these precious people i thank you for this wonderful message of salvation i thank you for the plan of the new birth experience and i thank you for the privilege of having it in our lives jesus help us to realize it's not just for us it's for us to share it's for us to give it's for us to teach it's for us to preach we got a city that needs this we've got a province and a nation and a world that needs this so jesus use us we're forever grateful thank you for the privilege of being born again just as the bible says i worship you jesus bless your church tonight bless your church tonight bless your church tonight bless your church tonight [Applause]

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 3,822

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Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international, apostolic, sermon, preach, preaching, bible, study, teaching, bible study, 238, 2:38, 2:38 the numbers of help, the, numbers, of, help, pastor, raymond, woodward, raymond woodward

Id: UdfJ3uqTTG4

Length: 70min 34sec (4234 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 23 2021